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I often run into this issue. I'm creating a file in Photoshop with masked layers etc. I want to make the final output available for some mock-ups in Illustrator, so I rasterize the layers and marquee select the entire area, copy and move to Illustrator.

Pasting the area in Illustrator flattens all transparencies, which is quite annoying. I'm left with my object and a flat white background.

Is there a reason for this?

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I have no idea the reason behind the flattening, but you could place your PSD file in an AI file and it will respect the transparency. – Farray Jul 1 '11 at 22:05
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Not an answer but an observation: I'm guessing you're rasterizing layers for copying purpose. You don't have to merge/rasterize layers. Just hit cmd+A to select all, and go to Edit->Copy Merged. This way you'll copy all the visible elements on all layers as if they were on one layer. – Jin♦ Jul 2 '11 at 1:21
@Jin, great point! – danielhanly.com Jul 2 '11 at 10:29
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@Scott, Well, this question was asked and answered in July, and I've since updated, so I'm not sure I can provide that now. – danielhanly.com Feb 2 '12 at 11:12
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Shockingly, this is still an issue in CS6. (PS 13.0.4, AI 16.0.0 on OSX 10.8). This seems so basic to me. – supertrue May 16 at 0:06
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3 Answers

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I'm not sure why you're rasterizing the layers, nor why you would want to copy and paste rather than place the image in AI. If there isn't a vital reason for that workflow, Place the PSD in Illustrator (File > Place) instead. All of the transparency is preserved, layers are intact.

Once the image is placed, you can embed it if necessary. One of the embed options is to flatten all layers, which also preserves transparency. If you don't flatten, "Convert Layers to Objects" opens up various possibilities for subsequent editing.

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Basically, it's for when I'm just making quick and simple Mock Ups and I want to use one or two assets in Illustrator. I know you can place PSDs, but that drives up the file size – danielhanly.com Jul 2 '11 at 10:30
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Got it. I was thinking of efficiency (time) rather than size. With a placed PSD you can iterate quickly using "Edit Original" and updating via the links panel. Drag the image in from Bridge as the fastest way to embed it in the first place. – Alan Gilbertson♦ Jul 2 '11 at 17:00
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Saving as PNG at Photoshop and opening at illustrator will solve it.:)

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I don't think this is possible (I'm on Windows 7) without saving the file first. This is probably not a limitation of Photoshop since you can copy-n-paste transparency within the application.

Quick tip: No need to merge your layers. Select area, then control-shift-c (windows), and you copy all of the layers.

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